ANAHEIM – There is no "D" in Anteaters, but the way UC Irvine plays that aspect of basketball, perhaps there should be.

Coach Russell Turner's team, relying on its season-long strength, was at its best defensively in the first half of Thursday night's Big West Tournament first-round matchup with Hawaii, and the No. 4 seed Anteaters were able to hang on for a 71-60 victory over the Warriors at Honda Center.

The Warriors (17-14), using a press, scored the first 11 points of the second half to cut their deficit in half. But freshman guard Alex Young ended the UCI drought with a layup with 15:39 left, Wilder hit a 3-pointer two possessions later, and the Anteaters were able to restore some order.

But the Warriors got back to just 10 points behind before UCI senior guard Derick Flowers hit a clutch runner in the lane with 8:16 left.

"I thought we came in and set a tone with the level of defensive intensity that was strong for us," Turner said. "That's what we intended to do, and we did that as a team. There were a lot of individual efforts that were outstanding, but we did it as a team."

Hawaii center Vander Joaquim scored 16 of his 18 in the second half to give his team a chance.

With Davis dominating the paint, both offensively and defensively, UC Irvine led, 44-22, at halftime. Hawaii shot just 26 percent from the field (9 of 34) in the first 20 minutes. One of the makes was a straightaway-banked 3-pointer by backup point guard Manroop Clair.

Meanwhile, UCI shot 54 percent from the field before intermission.

Davis blocked three first-half shots and altered many others. He also led UCI with 13 first-half points, including consecutive lob dunks off excellent Wilder feeds for a 38-15 margin with 3:15 left in the first half – with a fast break-igniting block by teammate Chris McNealy in between.

UCI got into its trademark stifling man-to-man defense – without fouling – from the start and broke to a 16-5 lead, with Wilder hitting a 3-pointer with 12:31 left in the first half for the first double-digit lead.

The Anteaters extended that to 24-5 with 8:52 left in the half on a pair of Travis Souza baseline jumpers, the second a 3-pointer, and two Davis free throws.

Hawaii, meanwhile, missed 12 of its first 16 field-goal attempts. Only senior guard Hauns Brereton was able to solve the Anteaters' defense at the outset, scoring the Warriors' first five points. After he hit a 3, though, UCI ran off 17 consecutive points before Christian Standhardinger hit a layup with 8:31 left in the half.

The Warriors didn't score consecutive baskets until 5:37 remained in the first half.

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